The ladies’s NCAA Match kicked off with anticipated blowouts, with a few exceptions.
No. 10 seed Oregon pulled off the most important upset of the opening spherical, taking down No. 7 Vanderbilt in additional time, and fourth-seeded Kentucky needed to maintain off No. 13 Liberty for a one-point win.
Saturday’s slate of first spherical video games will embrace No. 1 seeds USC and Texas, together with No. 2 seeds UConn and NC State.
A 12 months in the past, the ladies’s NCAA championship recreation drew an even bigger tv viewers than the lads’s title recreation for the primary time, with a mean of 18.9 million viewers watching undefeated South Carolina beat Iowa and celebrity Caitlin Clark. The query was whether or not some followers would step away as Clark, Angel Reese, Kamilla Cardoso and different standouts headed to the WNBA.
As a substitute, the ladies’s recreation has featured a compelling bunch of stars over again, from Paige Bueckers at UConn to JuJu Watkins at USC, Hannah Hidalgo of Notre Dame and Madison Booker of Texas.
The season has been must-watch viewing for one more motive, too: Parity. 4 groups held the No. 1 spot in the AP Prime 25, tying the mark for probably the most ever, and this NCAA Match will likely be solely the second previously 19 years to haven’t any groups with zero or one loss. The opposite time was in 2022.
Video games to observe
UConn vs. Arkansas State. All-American guard Bueckers kicks off her remaining bid for a nationwide championship in opposition to the Solar Belt Convention champion Pink Wolves.
Michigan State vs. Harvard. The Spartans have gained 21 video games this season, however might have their arms full with Harvard’s Harmoni Turner.
USC vs. UNC-Greensboro. Count on an enormous recreation from USC All-American Watkins after the Trojans misplaced to UCLA within the Huge 10 Convention title recreation.
How can I watch the match?
Each recreation of the ladies’s match will likely be aired — here’s a schedule that will likely be up to date with matchups — on ESPN’s networks and streaming providers with choose video games on ABC.
Who’re the favorites?
The highest 4 betting favorites because the match arrives are (so as): defending champion South Carolina, UConn, UCLA and USC, based on BetMGM Sportsbook.
Who’s taking part in?
There are 31 computerized bids that went to convention champions and so they had been mixed with 37 at-large picks by the NCAA choice committee. Choice Sunday unveiled the bracket matchups.
When are the video games?
The First 4 matchups had been Wednesday-Thursday and first- and second-round video games run Friday-Monday on campuses throughout the nation. Candy 16 weekend (March 28-31) will see video games in two websites as soon as once more: Birmingham, Alabama, and Spokane, Washington.
The Ultimate 4 is in Tampa, Florida, on Friday, April 4, with the championship recreation on Sunday, April 6.
